Dragon in orbit as SpaceX launch opens new era

After an agonising last-second launch delay on 19 May the commercial space flight company SpaceX today succeeded in launching its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo capsule into Earth orbit.

Ten minutes after a flawless night launch (video) from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the Dragon had separated from its first and second stages and had deployed its solar panels. Dragon is now in orbit some 50 kilometres beneath the International Space Station, to which it should dock in a few days time.

The launch success opens a new chapter in space flight - one in which it is hoped nimble entrepreneurial companies with innovative ideas can compete and outgun big-spending government-run space agencies. The excitement at today's orbital achievement was palpable on Twitter, not least from SpaceX founder Elon Musk who tweeted: "Falcon flew perfectly!! Dragon in orbit, comm locked and solar arrays active!! Feels like a giant weight just came off my back."

The Obama administration, which has
backed the new approach, saw the launch as a way to squeeze better value
for money out of NASA: "Congratulations to the teams at SpaceX and
NASA... This expanded role for the private sector will free up more of
NASA's resources to do what NASA does best: tackle the most demanding
technological challenges in space," says John Holdren, presidential
scitech advisor in a White House statement.

Dragon
will spend its first 24 hours matching the orbit and velocity of the
International Space Station at an altitude of 340 kilometres. Some 40
hours into the mission Dragon will gingerly approach the ISS,
undertaking a series of delicate test manoeuvres and control checks all
the while to ensure it poses no puncture risk to the pressurised, crewed
ISS. After 75 hours it should be docked to the ISS by the station's
giant robot arm.

The
Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo capsule, built for NASA by SpaceX -
based in an old Northrop (and later Boeing) aircraft factory in
Hawthorne, California - launched on time at 3.44 am EST (8.44 BST). The
rocket's nine-engine first stage separated and fell back to the
Atlantic Ocean 3 minutes after launch and the second, single-engined
stage carrying Dragon arrived on orbit at an altitude of around 300
kilometres some 6 minutes later.

"This
succesful launch is good news for NASA, which really does not want to
rely so much on Russia for resupply of the space station," says Philip
Hylands, an analyst at Ascend, a space flight and aviation consultancy in
Heathrow, UK. "If in the next few days the ISS rendezvous and docking
also goes sweet as a nut, SpaceX can really concentrate on its
forthcoming NASA cargo missions - and then get on with making the Dragon
capable of carrying astronauts."

Hopefully, if the modules are all the same, mass producing ten at a time for each launch will lead to a far cheaper, faster and more efficint mass production assembly line, that can be more easily blended with continuing improvements in materials and technology.

Maybe, with the 2 out of 9 capability they could reduce costs even further by combining test modules and non critical flights, such as when shipping ingots of material or water tanks to the orbital assembly site.

Three cheers for SpaceX and looking forward to a bright future for commercial space go Elon Musk go.

Phil Gollin
on May 23, 2012 8:45 AM

.

I do wish that there was less hype about the so-called "commercialisation" of space.

Very little has changed since the earlier ages of Mercury, Gemini and Apollo. Then the spacecraft were built by commercial organisations by competitive tender and inspection was by NASA - and YES (different) then operated by NASA. Now the operation is by a private company, but still with NASA oversight.

NASA still has a huge input into the design, manufacture oversight and flight planning of the proposed "commercial" missions (as well as providing guaranteed flight opportunities and money).

This is still a state organised business and the hype should reflect that it is only a small step down the road.